Springs of the Presidents: The Grand Resorts of the Allegheny Mountains

Long before air conditioning, Washington's elite escaped the summer heat by heading west into the Allegheny Mountains, where mineral springs bubbled up warm from the earth and grand resorts grew up around them. Two of those resorts still stand, a short drive apart across the Virginia–West Virginia line, and each has welcomed presidents in office.

The Omni Homestead Resort

The Homestead's history predates the nation itself. The resort traces its founding to 1766, and Thomas Jefferson came to take the waters in his retirement. In the early twentieth century, William Howard Taft and his family spent weeks and sometimes months at a time here. Its most romantic presidential chapter, though, came in December 1915.

On the evening of December 18, President Woodrow Wilson married Edith Bolling Galt in a small ceremony at her Washington home. To avoid the crowds, the couple slipped across the Potomac to Alexandria, boarded a private railcar, and arrived at Hot Springs the next morning. They spent their Christmas honeymoon at the Homestead, playing golf, riding horses, and opening gifts from well-wishers, while the president stayed in touch with the White House over special wires.

The Homestead has since been renovated, but the experience remains wonderfully old-world. Soak in the naturally warm springs, wander the vast Georgian-style hotel, and visit the historic Jefferson Pools nearby. Come in December for fireside evenings and carriage rides that echo the Wilsons' own mountain Christmas.

The Greenbrier

Across the state line in White Sulphur Springs, the Greenbrier is the grandest of the American spa resorts. A white-columned spring house topped by a green dome marks the sulphur spring at the heart of the property, and the hotel itself is a monumental Georgian structure set against the mountains.

For its first century and more, the resort was known simply as White Sulphur Springs, and it was the closest thing the Old South had to a summer capital. Presidents came to meet the Southern congressmen who held power in Washington, and Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan all visited before the Civil War. Tyler, the first president to marry in office, spent part of his 1844 honeymoon here. Built in 1816, the President's Cottage on the grounds served as a summer residence for Van Buren, Tyler, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan; it still stands today as the President's Cottage Museum. The main hotel building dates from 1913.

In March 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived by train for the first North American leaders' summit, hosting Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines at the resort for two days of talks. Eisenhower found time for a round of golf with Sam Snead, and he left convinced that the informal setting had made the summit a success. The Windsor Club Presidential Suite, the resort's most lavish accommodation, honors that chapter: its formal dining room entertained Eisenhower during the summit.

Today the Greenbrier offers championship golf, a celebrated mineral spa, and a long roster of country pursuits from falconry to sporting clays. Book the Windsor Club for the full presidential treatment.

Plan your stay: Explore more hotels in Virginia and West Virginia

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About this guide: Presidential connections are drawn from public sources, including official White House schedules, presidential and historical archives, and reputable news outlets, as well as the hotels' own published histories. Hotel names, ownership, and amenities may have changed since publication. This information is provided for general interest, is not guaranteed, and should be independently verified. Hotelaholic is not affiliated with or endorsed by any U.S. president or government agency.